THE SECRET TREASURE
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Ash Wednesday, Year A
Analysis by Ella Moehlman
1“Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
16“And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
From Wikimedia Commons
“Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus – not even our harmful, mortifying secrets.”
DIAGNOSIS: Ashes, ashes all fall down
Step One: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – Ash Wednesday is no secret
Where I live in rural America, it’s just something you do: on Ash Wednesday you go to church and get the cross on your forehead. We are not afraid of marking our faces to show others our piety. We know we are supposed to repent. We know we are supposed to be better, so we spend one day feeling bad and going to church. Piety is all fine and good as long as it is just surface- level.
Step Two: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – We harbor secrets in our hearts
The barfly I see occasionally at funerals stopped me at the bar & grill as I was walking out, “Pastor, I’ll come to church some Sunday, but only if you won’t call me out. I don’t want to be called out.”
We don’t want to get called out on what is really in our hearts – or in our lives. The outward piety is a cover up. We’re afraid of being seen for who and what we truly are: creatures (who do wrong) made of dust, and to dust we shall return.
Step Three: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem) – Secrets, secrets are no fun
We can’t help but be like the hypocrites. We want to be seen by others, and praised by others, but not have the whole truth exposed. But we’ve already received our reward. Now the future’s here and we are it, and what are we to do on our own? We are dead in our trespasses. We’re throwing stones and crucifying; the darkness has never left our eyes. We have sinned by our fault, by our own fault, by our own most grievous fault.
PROGNOSIS: God’s love will not fade away
Step Four: Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution) – The Father who sees in secret will reward in secret
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus – not even our harmful, mortifying secrets. The Father who sees in secret, meaning en krypto, in the crypt, where our ashes get interned, will also reward en krypto, in the crypt. Here in this place of death, God brings new life, first through Jesus, and then to us.
Step Five: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
Christ has let us in on his big secret: the forgiveness of sins, the undoing of death. Where Christ’s treasure is, there his heart is. He has created clean hearts in us. Our hearts are the treasures secreted away in the field of Matthew 13:44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure having been encrypted in a field. When a man found it, he hid it (encrypted it) again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Edward Riojas’ painting of the Parable of the Buried Treasure is about hiddenness and death and life. Christ is in a graveyard, pulling a coffin up out of the ground. To dust we shall return, but not for long! Knowing this our hearts trust in Christ’s promise and Ash Wednesday is not without hope.
Step Six: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – Now is the day of salvation
The ash crosses on our foreheads get washed off as we brush our teeth and get ready for bed. But the secret, invisible crosses of oil or water that were traced on our foreheads in baptism remain. That promise of salvation will not fade away. God has seen the secrets of our hearts, sealed up, stoppered, hidden, as in visions of the end time, and still, it is not the end of us, rather God has restored to us the joy of his salvation. Our lips are open and our mouths cannot help but proclaim
God’s praise.
